Aeromotive Fuel Pump "Vapor Locking" Fix?

[jmillsUT28]

Engine is a 510 Stroker with a paxton that has the older Aeromotive fuel pump located next to the drive shaft under the car. Last weekend while running thru the TN mountains I got vapor lock and had to let the car site for 40 minutes to cool down. This happened to me a few times. Only when driving hard long distances in the mountains. I heard to fix this I need to install the walbro fuel pumps in the fuel tank. Really not wanting to do this as I do not want to mess with the install!

So, I figured I would post on here to see if anyone had any ideas on a way to keep this pump cool. Let me know your ideas!

If nothing works I'll just install the walbros...

 

[plumcrazy]

the only fix is a pair or 3 pack of walbro's. confirm this with squadX

doug has a good deal on them IIRC

 

[GTSnake]

How about an inline heat sink?

 

[F8L SNK]

Or a fuel pump controller. It will run at reduced speed until activated. More complicated but easy if you have an AEM.

 

[jmillsUT28]

How about an inline heat sink?

How long have you had your BG heat sink and how many miles has it been used? Any problems with it?

 

[jmillsUT28]

Or a fuel pump controller. It will run at reduced speed until activated. More complicated but easy if you have an AEM.

Right now I am running the Split Second.

 

[SquadX]

the only fix is a pair or 3 pack of walbro's. confirm this with squadX

doug has a good deal on them IIRC

As plum stated, the fix is to install the double or triple pump intank set up. i went through two aeromotive A1000s in two months. Both times i had to let the car sit for it to start and drive, then it would cut off again,.......
Time and money are not on your side with this. the straw for me was when I was left almost 70 miles from my home and it would start but die within secs. Very nice tow bill.

Many tuners will tell you to switch to an intank system. Mine should be done tomorrow as i got a call from the shop today and everything seems to be working fine, dyno tomorrow. I will say if your having a shop do the install its not cheap. They had to redo my entire system.
Parts alone was almost 2k including all lines, fittings, hanger, manifold, and in my case, regulator as they didnt want to use my aeromotive stuff. You might need a retune afterwards to run at full capacity. Ill know after my dyno.

PM me your number if you want more details.

FYI i got my hanger an manifold from RSI. YOu will also need the stock fuel hanger. Mine had been modified so I had to replace that as well.

 

[SquadX]

Doug Levin gave good advice as did DC Perf.

Dan at DC Perf had a good idea on how to set the fuel system up which would help with hard cornering and fuel lost.

Also i may not be vapor lock, could be elec. motor overheating? Are you running two filters (one before and after the pump)? If so then thats probably the reason its f'in up or contributing to it.

 

[white out]

Instead of dual Walbro255's, why not go for a Bosch044.

Nick

 

[paxtu22]

It is not vapor locking, it is overheating. What kind of power does the car make? I ran a Bosch 420 that was good to 650 RWHP. I switched to a Magnafuel 650 Pro Tunner when I changed to E85. It is rated @ 2500 hp. I have had 1 failure in 3 years. They said that it was due to the fuel that I was using. They installed an updated washer that should fix the problem.
I think that the multi-pump systems are an accident waiting to happen. I have seen more than once, someone damage there engine because one of the pumps fail and the car goes lean.
Talk to Mike Post @ dynotunemp.com and he will hook you up. If you have any questions about the pump talk to Robbie @ Magnafuel.

Good Luck
Eric

 

[SquadX]

I rather one pump go bad and have two to sustain then only one pump and it go bad.
As I stated above i doubt its vapor lock, probably over heating. Also its a good idea to have a air/fuel gauge if your boosting to monitor lean condition. This may give you some warning if your start to see lean conditions to pull over.

 

[jmillsUT28]

Hey Squadx, thanks for the info. I have a air/fuel system on it's way to me where I will be able to record the air/fuel then tun the car. It will also have the gauge so I can see real time.

I think I will go with the walbros in the tank at some point. Now this has happened three times. All three times I was driving hard thru the mountains for a few hours straight. Now, I have driving on the interstate 5 hours straight with no problems.

 

[jmillsUT28]

It is not vapor locking, it is overheating. What kind of power does the car make? I ran a Bosch 420 that was good to 650 RWHP. I switched to a Magnafuel 650 Pro Tunner when I changed to E85. It is rated @ 2500 hp. I have had 1 failure in 3 years. They said that it was due to the fuel that I was using. They installed an updated washer that should fix the problem.
I think that the multi-pump systems are an accident waiting to happen. I have seen more than once, someone damage there engine because one of the pumps fail and the car goes lean.
Talk to Mike Post @ dynotunemp.com and he will hook you up. If you have any questions about the pump talk to Robbie @ Magnafuel.

Good Luck
Eric

Well I got it on the dyno once but the car was running like crap and the tuner had no clue how to tune it. But it made 752rwhp and 767 trq. I think there is a LOT more power to be made once I tune it. When it was on the dyno it said it was running 9psi...

 

[speedracervr4]

Aeromotive has a real good tech line..might be worth giving them a call. Also they sell a street controller which will help with the heat build up.

 

[GTSnake]

How long have you had your BG heat sink and how many miles has it been used? Any problems with it?

It's been on there for about 5 years now. I've had zero problems although I don't drive it in very hot weather up here. I've never had any type of vapor lock issue even when my temps were up in the 250's during a radiator problem.

I put it on there just as insurance when I did my fuel lines. BTW my lines are -10 out and -8 return so with that much fuel running through it all the time vapor lock may be very difficult.

 

[mbccenter]

I have run the A1000 for a few years with no problems. I have mine mounted on the tranny pan where it is not by any exhaust and gets good air flow. Do you have a return line to allow for fresh fuel to keep it cool?

 

[F8L SNK]

I have an Aeromotive pump as well and I have filter pre pump and post pump. I have it mounted on a custom bracket just behind the diff cover. It has never overheated once. I have -12 feed and -8 return to tank. I also run a Weldon controller to slow the pump down when not above 3,000 rpm or when not in boost. I have over 7,000 miles on this pump. I do think that the pump is starting to wear the bearings however as I hear a strange noise when running. I am going to replace just in case.

The only disadvantage of a 3 pump setup is under full demand the pressure can drop if one pump fails. This can lean out the motor obviously. If you are watching your gauge this isn't an issue but you won't know when one pump isn't running out of three.

The in tank pumps are obviously better for longevity but expense and the potential for one pump failure make it not a perfect solution.

 

[SquadX]

Everytime mine failed, it started with a strange noise as well. Besides a gauge, what other option in a 3 tank set up can alert you to a pump failure or can the system be set up to have the remaining two pumps increase load to compensate for the failure of one via some type of controller device that would notice the failure, run the two pumps at increase load and do something to increase fuel pressure?

 

[britospeed]

With and AEM you can wire the pumps so if any one fails it sets a boost cut or rev limit. Without the AEM you can wire the pumps to an external ignition cut box on the event of a failure.

 

[plumcrazy]

squadx, you can have your car warn you of fuel pressure and shut the boost down IIRC. at least with a split second on my car i know it was possible. i just didn't have doug do that. was going to this winter.

 

[SquadX]

squadx, you can have your car warn you of fuel pressure and shut the boost down IIRC. at least with a split second on my car i know it was possible. i just didn't have doug do that. was going to this winter.

Well as I've found out I have an aem so I'll look into both options but during the colder months. I just want my car back now to drive.

 

[Jack B]

A little food for thought on a/f:

1. If you can read the gauge real-time at wot your car is not fast.

2. An adjustable fuel pressure transducer/switch could be utilized with boost control.

3. Innovate a/f gauges have an alarm circuit that has an analog out. It is programmable and can be set for a specific a/f with the use of an "and", allowing the alarm only if you are at wot and over a certain rpm.

 

[paxtu22]

I check my A/F gauge in high gear at the track on my blown mustang and it runs 9.50@143. Feels fast to me
The 2 pump route will work fine until one fails. It may not leave you stranded, but a tow bill is alot less than a set
of pistons.

Eric